Getting Buy-in & Budget for Better Performance Management

Companies are very much alive, and they need to be nurtured to evolve and develop alike other living things. In order for growth to happen change must be introduced. When change is introduced, the potential for growth is limitless.

A widespread problem among many companies is that management can get too comfortable. Execs don’t think of change as an option because they already see their company as successful. Why change something that already works fine? Well, because one should want something to function better. Performancemanagement processes can fall under the broad category of things that “work fine.”

A decentperformancemanagement process gets the job done. An excellent performance management process far exceeds just getting the job done, it creates consistency. With consistent performancemanagement, a reported 70% of employees felt more valued, and 68% reported receiving more valuable feedback on all of their tasks.

The change needed to implement an excellent performancemanagement process will take time and should be applied carefully. It is important to do research and get other employees behind the proposal. The path to getting senior managers to “buy-into” a company change may differ, however there are some common tips to remember when proposing a change in a company.

FOCUS ON COMPANY-WIDE RESULTS

When creating a partnership with upper management it is important to focus on the outcome for the company. It’s rare that an employee will begin a partnership when only trying to advance his or her own objectives. It’s essential that the dots be connected between the benefits for employees as well as the benefits enterprise-wide. Performancemanagement, with the right process, can provide a multitude of company-wide benefits. Companies with “best in class” talent management programs are 26% more likely to be using performancemanagement software.

CLEARLY MAP OUT THE BENEFITS

Benefits that are unclear to senior managementwill not result in exec buy–in. It’s not always easy for benefits to be identified when a change is being presented. Financial and labor resources are limited in companies, so the benefits need to be able to overcome those. All stakeholders involved need to understand the direct impact of this change and why it is the best decision.

A common issue that arises could be that some item may need to be sacrificed in order for the buy–in to happen. For example, in order to obtain the performancemanagement software that is needed, upper management must spend less money on production. This is where opportunity cost comes into play. The ability to align the features of the changes being made with the benefits expected for the company will be key in obtaining exec buy–in. There is an 89% success rate of project completion for high performing organizations, so it is important to emphasize the potential for success.

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THE THREE C’S

The three C’s are crucial in creating a positive connection with senior executives.

Credibility. Proposing an idea without numbers, ROI and benefits to support them will lead to a lack of credibility. Pointing out specifics and providing real life examples on the concepts being presented will deliver successful results. Give them some stats that they can’t ignore, like these:

Consistency. Staying on course is important. Getting an exec to buy–in may not happen the first time around, but that does not mean to go change everything about the presentation. Staying consistent with the benefits and attributes of the initiative will lead to respect.

Confidence. Conveying confidence to upper management is essential because it gives a sense of knowledge and passion. Strong beliefs should be in place about what can be accomplished, and confidence can make those become more evident. A reported 32% of employees are afraid to put their own ideas forward, don’t become a part of the confidence crisis!

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SUPPORT THE FINAL DECISION

There’s always the possibility of not getting the exec’s approval. It’s critical to take this as a chance to gain more support on obtaining betterperformancemanagement. Accepting that things did not work out will allow time to prepare for the next time it is presented to the exec team.

These recommendations don’t mean an automatic win for the day, but they sure do improve chances that senior execs will buy into betterperformancemanagement. Overtime partnerships will develop, and chances of influencing the organization will increase. 58% of organizations reported still using spreadsheets as their primary way to track performancemanagement metrics (a total head scratcher), so it’s time to try for betterperformancemanagement.